Mayo Clinic Retains Top Ranking for Endocrinology Care

Nancy A. Melville

August 20, 2018

For the third straight year, the Mayo Clinic leads the nation in diabetes and endocrinology care, according to the annual ranking by US News & World Report of the nation's best hospitals by specialty, topping the list above Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore, Maryland, which came in second, and Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, in third.

"We were delighted to learn that our Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, and Nutrition at Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, Minnesota, is ranked first by US News & World Report for 2018-2019," William F. Young, Jr, MD, chair of the division, told Medscape Medical News.

"This ranking is a tribute to and recognition of the more than 300 individuals in our division who devote their efforts every day to patient care, research, and education," he added.

The Mayo Clinic, which also topped the overall 2018-2019 Best Hospitals Honor Roll of US News, was ranked first among the top 50 hospitals in the specialty of Diabetes & Endocrinology. Other hospitals ranked in the top 10% of a total of 1089 included in the review of Diabetes & Endocrinology centers that did not make the top 50 were highlighted as "high performers."

Sizeable Staff in Endocrinology Discipline Contributes to Quality of Care

Young noted that the Mayo Clinic's sizable staff of clinicians has been key in boosting the division's quality of care.

Various criteria were used in the hospital ranking, but the heaviest reliance was placed on outcomes, with hospitals receiving overall scores from 0 to 100 based on patient risk-adjusted survival (37.5%), patient safety (5%), and other care-related indicators, such as nurse staffing or patient volume (30%).

Expert opinion (27.5%) also factored in the ranking, representing results of an annual reputational survey in which physicians are asked to name up to five hospitals they consider the best for difficult cases in their specialty.

The criteria tend to be inter-related, the US News Health Analysis team told Medscape Medical News.

"High performing hospitals tend to have higher patient volumes, have better outcomes for those patients, and are viewed positively by specialists in their field, as captured by our expert opinion survey," they said.

The Mayo Clinic's overall score in Diabetes & Endocrinology was a stellar 100 out of 100 — the only hospital to receive a perfect score. Johns Hopkins received a score of 86.8 and Massachusetts General Hospital received a score of 83.1.

Rounding out the top five in Diabetes & Endocrinology were the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, with a score of 80.5, and the Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia, coming in at number 5 with a score of 79.1.

Ranked sixth was University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center (score 78.5), followed by the University of Colorado Hospital, in Aurora, (78.5). New York-Presbyterian Hospital – Columbia and Cornell was ranked eighth (78.1), followed by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (76.6) and Barnes-Jewish Hospital, in St. Louis, Missouri, (76.3), in 10th place.

US News notes that, contrary to a common misconception, the annual list is not limited to teaching hospitals. To qualify for consideration in a data-driven specialty, centers need to meet any of four of the following criteria: teaching hospital status; affiliation with a medical school; at least 200 beds (set-up and staffed); or at least 100 beds and offering at least four of eight advanced technologies associated with high-quality care (such as a PET/CT scanner for some precision radiation therapies).

"By providing the most comprehensive data available on nearly every hospital across the United States, we give patients, families, and physicians information to support their search for the best care across a range of procedures, conditions, and specialties," said Ben Harder, managing editor and chief of health analysis at US News, in a statement.

Authors and Disclosures

Authors and Disclosures

Journalist

Nancy A. Melville

Comments

3090D553-9492-4563-8681-AD288FA52ACE

Commenting is limited to medical professionals. To comment please Log-in.

Comments on Medscape are moderated and should be professional in tone and on topic. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. Please see our Commenting Guide for further information. We reserve the right to remove posts at our sole discretion.

Comments on Medscape are moderated and should be professional in tone and on topic. You must declare any conflicts of interest related to your comments and responses. Please see our Commenting Guide for further information. We reserve the right to remove posts at our sole discretion.